[Revised entry by Lorne Falkenstein and Giovanni Grandi on September 21, 2017.
Changes to: Main text, Bibliography, notes.html]
Etienne Bonnot, Abbe de Condillac, was the chief exponent of a radically empiricist account of the workings of the mind that has since come to be referred to as "sensationism." Whereas John Locke's empiricism followed upon a rejection of innate principles and innate ideas, Condillac went further and rejected innate abilities as well. On his version of empiricism, experience not only provides us with "ideas" or the raw materials for knowledge, it also teaches us how to focus attention,...